Halide Devs Launch New 'Spectre' App for Capturing Long Exposure Photos - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Halide Devs Launch New 'Spectre' App for Capturing Long Exposure Photos

by

The developers behind the popular Halide photography app today launched an all-new app, Spectre. Spectre is designed to overhaul the way that we take long exposure images using some unique machine learning and stabilization techniques.

When capturing a long exposure image with Spectre, the app takes advantage what's described as an intelligent computational shutter to take hundreds of photos over the course of a few seconds. Because it's taking hundreds of images instead of one continuous shot, you can hold your phone while you take long exposure images with Spectre.


Normally, these kind of long exposure shots require a tripod or another stable surface to come out well, but Spectre uses image stabilization and its computational shutter to simplify the process.

spectre1
Spectre's software can also do some neat things with the long exposure images that you capture with the app. It can remove crowds if you take a medium or long exposure photo in a touristy area, and it can create those neat blurred effects you sometimes see from long exposure images when capturing flowing water.

At night, there's an AI mode designed to create light trails for creative nighttime shots and light painting purposes.

spectre2
All photos captured by Spectre are saved as Live Photos, so you can see the end result as a still photo or see the exposure process from start to finish. Spectre supports 3 to 9 second exposures in the app, and while the long exposure features won't work for all types of images, you can still get a decent shot in most situations because it's simply stitching photos together.

spectre3
Spectre can be downloaded from the App Store for $1.99. It works on the iPhone 6 and newer and requires iOS 11 and up. Scene Detection features require iOS 12, while AI-based stabilization requires an iPhone 8 or later.

Tag: Halide

Top Rated Comments

StellarVixen Avatar
99 months ago
Seems like a neat concept, but I'd prefer to use my actual DSLR/mirrorless camera + tripod to shoot long expsoures.
You people are unbelievable!


Nobody is saying that you should throw away your DSLR and all the lenses you have. This is for people who want to shoot best possible photos on iPhone.


Please...
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
99 months ago
Seems like a neat concept, but I'd prefer to use my actual DSLR/mirrorless camera + tripod to shoot long expsoures.
I cannot believe comments like this!

Well, go and use your $40,000 Hasselblad and tripod or whatever it is you own (clearly, you need us to know you have a mirrorless DSLR). This is a $1.99 iPhone app for a smartphone. It's not meant to replace a DSLR, it's meant to make what you have in your pocket that little bit better.

For goodness sake.

Side note: Maybe this is the iOS answer to Google's 'Night Sight'.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tzm41 Avatar
99 months ago
Seems like a neat concept, but I'd prefer to use my actual DSLR/mirrorless camera + tripod to shoot long expsoures.
I also have a full backpack of lenses and my Sony full frame mirrorless camera. They surely produce pictures of great quality. But you can't compare the convenience of that full backpack 10 pounds setup with the iPhone that weights 6 ounces and fits in your pocket. Being able to take a creative picture is more important than being able to take a picture of high image quality, in my opinion.

Side note from this I feel like we are starting to see more and more ML based app. Glad that CoreML is taking off.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
StellarVixen Avatar
99 months ago
And I'm not saying that. Typical MacRumors to jump on someone's post who you don't agree with....

Take a breathe and calm down.
I do not need to calm down, I am perfectly calm. Don't play a victim now.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JRobinsonJr Avatar
99 months ago
Seems like a neat concept, but I'd prefer to use my actual DSLR/mirrorless camera + tripod to shoot long expsoures.
Agreed! Except... not everyone *has* a good DSLR+tripod, and even then I don't carry mine everywhere. The ability to get these pics is still a net positive.
[doublepost=1551454022][/doublepost]
The app looks pretty cool, but I would've preferred it as a paid IAP to Halide app. I prefer not to have that many apps, especially for shooting photos or video.
I would take that one step further and wish for the stock camera app to have snap-in capabilities. That way we would have ONE app to load for all photography scenarios.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nutmac Avatar
99 months ago
The app looks pretty cool, but I would've preferred it as a paid IAP to Halide app. I prefer not to have that many apps, especially for shooting photos or video.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: It's Out]

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
iOS 27 Icon iPhone

iOS 27 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27. During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14. iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
deep black iphone 18 pro

Apple Says iPhone 18 Pro Max Sold in U.S. Differs in One Way

Saturday September 12, 2026 3:27 pm PDT by
As noted by Nicolas Lellouche, who writes for the French tech website Numerama, Apple has updated its tech specs pages for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max to clarify which models are equipped with its new C2 cellular modem and where. Apple now says the iPhone 18 Pro has a C2 modem worldwide, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max uses the chip in every country except for the U.S. According...

🔗 Related Apple News & Rumors

Stay updated with the latest Apple ecosystem news and verified rumors